. >> with 28 days left to come to a deal on the nation's fiscal cliff, the white house is holding firm on its proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy. spokesman jay carney. >> the obstacle remains at this point the refusal to acknowledge by republican leaders that there is no deal that achieves the kind of balance that is necessary without raising rates on the top 2% wealthiest americans. the math simply does not add up. >> ifill: the white house proposes raising $1.6 trillion in taxes over ten years, imposing higher rates on those making more than $250,000 a year. in a letter sent to the white house today, speaker of the house john boehner rejected the president's approach, writing that republicans cannot in good conscience agree to this approach which is neither balanced nor realistic. his counter-offer, save $2.2 trillion by among other things raising $800 billion in new revenues. the plan would also raise the future eligibility age for medicare and alter medicaid to save another $600 billion. the republican plan would not increase tax rates for the wealthy. the president is campaign